Believing Prayer 6- Presumption
How do you like to be presumed upon?I wonder how you like it when people presume upon you.Let’s think about these scenarios......
Suddenly you have someunexpected visitorswho decide that they will spend the night at your house. Imagine if they tell you that they are spending a week with you and you haven't even asked them. They just presume that you will put them up!
I wonder how you feel when someonejust presumes that you would take them somewhereor drop them off again at home without asking whether you would or not.
Your next door neighbour asks toborrow the lawn mowerbecause his is broken. You say, "Yes", but the following Saturday morning you hear the sound of him mowing the lawn, and then you discover he has just borrowed your lawnmower again. In fact he seems to like the arrangement! Not only that but he returns it without cleaning it or replacing the petrol he has used.
The boss just assumes you will stay back late from work and complete that job.
Your child tells you that they are going to a meeting on the other side of town and you had better be ready by 4 o'clock.
Your child tells you, with displeasure in their voice, that he doesn't have any clean socks or undies. You might inform them in turn that if they put the ones scattered over the floor of their room in the washing basket, that this would be a good first step.
The list can get rather long. I am sure that no one here likes to be taken for granted and yet so often we presume upon each other. If presumed upon too often, we get our backs up and think bad thoughts. Sometimes it is a slow and steady build up of anger and resentment!What we are going to look at in today’s sermon is this matter of "Presumption."
The danger of presumption can hardly be overstated. In preparing for this sermon, I came across this illustration of the danger of presumption. “During the Battle of the Wilderness in the Civil War, Union general John Sedgwick was inspecting his troops. At one point he came to a parapet, over which he gazed out in the direction of the enemy. His officers suggested that this was unwise and perhaps he ought to duck while passing the parapet. ‘Nonsense,’ snapped the general. ‘They couldn’t hit an elephant at this dist—.’A moment later Sedgwick fell to the ground, fatally wounded.” Bible commentator, Dr. J. Vernon McGee warns, “Presumption is as dangerous as unbelief.”
Let’s take a closer look at this word, “presumption.”According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, presumption is "an attitude or belief dictated by probability" Facts play little part in presumption, just probability and likelihood. Its first synonym is "assumption," followed by "arrogance," "boldness," "impertinence" and "imprudence." Presume, in its verb form, means "To assume or take beforehand; especially, to do or undertake without leave or authority previously obtained. To take or suppose to be true, or entitled to belief, without examination or proof, or on the strength of probability; to take for granted; to infer; to suppose. To suppose or assume something to be, or to be true, on grounds deemed valid, though not amounting to proof; to believe by anticipation; to infer; as, we may presume too far. To venture, go, or act, by an assumption of leave or authority not granted; to go beyond what is warranted by the circumstances of the case; to venture beyond license; to take liberties; -- often with on or upon before the ground of confidence.”
According to Webster's New World College Dictionary, the term presumptuously, a variant of presumptuous, means "too bold or forward; taking too much for granted; showing overconfidence, arrogance, or effrontery."
Do you think it is a sin to presume upon God? Do you think it is a sin to take God for granted? Do you think that God is always willing to fall in with your goal or plans? Why, in this last sermon in the series on “Believing Prayer”, do I want to talk about presumption? It is because we must be careful that our believing prayer does not turn into presumptuous prayer.
Over the past couple of months as we have been focussing on this series on “Believing Prayer,” I have been asking you to pray and deeply reflect upon what is that one thing that you could pray for that is mission-critical to our Church in the first instance and our community in the second instance. A prayer that you can have on your heart and pray daily and often and that when you finish your prayer, you can pray, “Lord, you have heard my prayer. Lord, I thank you for your answer. I look forward to your answer to my prayer and the blessings it will bring. Lord, I trust in you.”A prayer that you could pray and celebrate its fulfilment with us in community.
What is the difference between faith and presumption? Let’s read Matthew 14:22-33 on p.16.
22Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.23And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there.24But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.
25Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.26And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.
27But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying,“Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”
28And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”
29So He said,“Come.”And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.30But when he saw that the windwasboisterous,he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
31And immediately Jesus stretched outHishand and caught him, and said to him,“O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”32And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
33Then those who were in the boat came and[c]worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”
In this Gospel story, Peter exercised faith. Faith says like Peter, “Lord, if it’s you, command me to come to you on the water.” Presumption on the other hand is different. Presumption just leaps from the boat in the hope that if Jesus said it to Peter, he said it to everyone. Fear looks and shrinks back. Faith looks and listens for God. Presumption doesn’t look or listen, it just leaps.
Presumption says, “Name it and claim it.” I want you to be clear in that believing prayer is not “Name it and claim it” prayer. “Name it and claim it” prayer is very dangerous. It is prayer of presumption.
“Name it and claim it” prayer has arisen in recent decades from the Word of Faith movement. Word of Faith is not aChristian denominationor uniformdoctrine. Beliefs vary from preacher to preacher, but they generally profess that children of God have a "right" to the good things in life, if they ask God and believe correctly. The following are three key Word of Faith errors that lead to prayers of presumption.
The first error is that God is obligated to obey peoples’ words. Words have power, according to Word of Faith beliefs. That's why it is often called "name it and claim it." Word of Faith preachers cite verses such as the one we have been using, Matthew 11:24, emphasizing the “whatever you ask for” aspect, Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
The problem with the “whatever you ask for” is that most times, it is not something that is in line with the heart and will of God in Jesus Christ. It is often some selfish thing that you want, some material good, something that will increase personalpride. This kind of prayer treats God as an eternal Santa Claus and prayer is nothing morethan sitting on his lap and giving him each day your list of presents that you want for Christmas. Prayer of faith expects whatever God promises in his Word. Prayer of presumption expects whatever the person wants and knows noboundaries
This attitude towards prayer is closely linked to the second error of the Word of Faith movement that God’s favour results in riches. Financial abundance is a common thread among Word of Faith preachers, causing some to call this the "prosperity gospel" or "health and wealth gospel."
Word of Faith preachers claim that God is eager to shower worshippers with money, promotions, large homes, and new cars, citing such verses as Malachi 3:10:"Bringthe whole titheinto the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it."
But the Bible abounds with passages thatwarnof pursuing money instead of God, such as 1 Timothy 6:9-11:“Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
Hebrews 13:5 cautions us not to always be wanting more and more. It says, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
Wealth is not necessarily a sign of favour from God. A large Church is not necessarily a sign of God’s favour. So, where does wealth from God and favour from God come into play. It is as faith says, “God’s work, done God’s way will never lack God’s supply.”
The third error of the Word of Faith movement is that human beings are actually “little gods.”Human beings are created in the image of God and are "little gods", some Word of Faith preachers claim. They imply that people are capable of controlling a "faith force" and have the power to bring their desires into being. They cite John 10:34 as their proof text: “Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said you are "gods"'?
This Word of Faith teaching is blatant idolatry.Jesus Christwas quoting Psalm 82, which referred to judges as "gods,” Jesus was stating thathewas above judges as the Son of God.Christians believe there is one God only, inthree Persons. Believers are indwelt by theHoly Spiritbut are not little gods. God is Creator; humans are his creations. To attribute any type of divine power to humans is unbiblical.
Yet, when one sees where the Word of Faith preachers are coming from, you can see how come they have this theological foundation. If I am a little god, I can command things to come into being with the emphasis being on myself or my family just as God commands things to come into being. Faith sets the stage for God to act. Presumptionsets the stage for the person to act.
So, what are some safeguards that we can put into place to make sure that our believing prayer is prayer of faith and not prayer of presumption. Firstly, is your prayer, mission critical? Is it about advancing the Kingdom of God in this place and fulfilling the Great Commission? God’s heart is for the lost. We can keep our believingprayers for this exercise in check by keeping our hearts attuned to His heart.
Secondly, in John 16:23,24 on p.117, Jesus says, “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” To pray in Jesus’ name is not a magical little mantra that we add on to the end of our prayers to get what we want. To pray in the name of Jesus is to pray in the nature, character and heart of Jesus, to pray according to his will and ways. Ask for those things that you know by his revealed Word he wants to give you as a Christian and us as a Church. He will answer our prayers that are said in his name to bring us joy. That joy will expand our faith and cause us to pray for even greater things in the future. So, is your prayer not only mission-critical but is it accordingto the nature, character and heart of Jesus according to his revelation? Will it bring you joy when he answers it?
Thirdly, is yourprayer according to the measure of faith given you? In Rom 12:3- 8 on p.170, Paul writes, “3For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to thinkof himselfmore highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.4For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function,5so we,beingmany, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.6Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us,let us use them:if prophecy,let us prophesyin proportion to our faith;7or ministry,let us use itinourministering; he who teaches, in teaching;8he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.”
In your prayer, is what you are asking and believing for according to your level of faith maturity? God will never condemn you for stepping out into new realms of faith, no matter what the result. No one would ever grow in their faith if they never extended themselves. But, running before you can walk almost always results in heavy falls. Prayer that is beyond your level of faith maturity can also result in discouragement. So, does your mission-critical prayer extend your faith without breaking it?
Finally, is your prayer one that you can stick with, one that you are passionate about seeing the result. One that you can really as Jesus says, “keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking” until you receive.
We are going to conclude again today by giving you another opportunity to write out your mission-critical prayer that we can put on the prayer tree at the beginning of 2018 with your name on it. When you feel that God has answered your prayer or partly answered your prayer, you can get up and share about it with us and we can celebrate and share your joy and be encouraged in our prayer by it.
Now, we have done this exercise three weeks ago. I said that I would give you another opportunity to participate in it again today if you wished. I would like to give you another opportunity to participate for three reasons based on our first effort.. Firstly, about a quarter of those who participated never signed their name to their prayer. So, this time, put your name on your prayer. Secondly, fashion your prayer in a way that we can celebrate somethingconcrete. For example, that you just don’t write, “To reap the harvest.” but that we will see 2 new people a month come to worship here at St. John’s or that a group of mission prayers will be up and running in the Parish by July 2018. It doesn’t matter if your name is on it and it doesn’t happen. No one is going to see that your prayer hasn’t come into being and judge you. The important thing is to exercise faith in prayer and let God give the results. He may give us 12 new people a month or we may have an army of pray-ers by the end of 2018
Finally, don’t use this opportunity to confess our Church’sshortcomings- that we would be more welcoming, more loving, more forgiving. Yes, we are not the perfect Church and those things may be needed; but are you going to stand up here and tell the Church that at last you feel your prayer has been answered that they are more loving, more forgiving, more welcoming? I don’t think so. These mission-critical prayers are meant to be objectively measurable and able to be celebrated by all.
We want believing prayers that are mission-critical. Prayers of faith not prayers of presumption. So, if you know you pretty well hit the exercise on the mark last time and you had put your name on it, don’t bother about writing anything out again. If you would like to hone what you said, feel free. If you wrote something and it wasn’t measurable that we can celebrate, have another go. If you wrote something last time that was all these things and didn’t put your name on it, write it out again and put your name on it.
So now, for a final paragraph to close the series...What I have felt God has wanted me to do in this sermon series is concentrate on the “P’ of “Pathway”- Prayer. I felt that he wanted me to spread it out so that the teaching could soak into your spirits and you could spend plenty of time praying and reflecting on the one thing that is mission critical that could extend your faith in prayer. A dear friend that I met up with in Brisbane this last time once said to me, “Nothing mighty happens without prayer.” I certainly believe it and if we want to see revival, believing prayer is the first step on the Pathway to revival. Amen.